11 May 2017

Former Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba expressed unfavorable views of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's proposal for constitutional amendment, saying Abe had a "defeatist" mentality for not sticking to the ruling party's 2012 draft for a revised Constitution.

Prime Minister Abe has said he aims to create a new draft for constitutional amendment by adding a paragraph defining the existence of the Self-Defense Forces to Article 9 while retaining its first paragraph that renounces war and the second paragraph banning Japan from possessing any potential for war.

On Abe's proposal, Ishiba told reporters, "What is that we (as a political party) have been doing (if that's what the prime minister wants to do)?" after his faction's gathering on May 9. He then called the prime minister's move "defeatist" as his move suggests he thinks the LDP's draft revision would never pass the Diet.